Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses



A. HEWITT Sept. 18, 1934.

SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 15

an E. W Attorney- Inventor M/VEQEQ 153 1934a A, HEWITT 1,9742% SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PRINTING PRESSES Filed Jan. 13, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I I Q EL by .4 ttorneya): E. W.

Patented Sept. 18, 1934 SHEET DELIVERY MECHANISM FOR PREN'IING PRESSES Albert Hewitt, London, England Application January 13, 1933, Serial No. 651,511 in Great Britain July 6, 193 1 i is Claims. (01. 2271-84) This invention relates to sheetdelivery mechanism for printing presses, and has among its objects to provide simple and Convenient means to hold the printed sheets separate and suspended 5. without contact of one with another and for a rsuilicient time for the drying of the impressions and for avoiding smearing or off-setting of one sheet upon another before the sheets arrive at the delivery board.

According to the invention the printed sheets are caused on delivery from the press delivery mechanism to drop from one plane to another beneath it in succession until the sheet arrives at the delivery board. For this purpose the sheets 15 are supported in the planes to which they necessarily pass by means of a series of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces that may conveniently take the form of rods, laths or the like, and these platforms are conveniently provided in sets in 29, which the platforms are disposed in vertical series one below the other. The sets may be two in number and so provided that one set of platforms may be alternately moved into and out of cincidence with the other set wh'ich during the movement of the first set is stationary, the platforms of one set being disposed in alternate positions with those the other set, and in this operation the respective sheets are held from participating in the alternate toand fro reciprocation of each '30 set of platforms by means of stops advantageously extending vertically near the ends of the platforms, whereby at each reciprocation one set of platforms which may be denoted as set A, passes from under thesheets it supported and permit the latter to fall on to the other set of platforms beneath, which may be denoted as set'B, that is free to receive them in the stationary position in which set B is held during that operation. Thereupon the set'A of platforms immediately 40 returns again into coincidence with the set B while the latter set is still in the stationary position, whereby the platforms of set A that had previously supported the sheets are now respectively disposed above those sheets and the platforms of set A are again free and in position to receive the sheets from the platforms of set E. In order that this may be done the platforms of set B, in the cycle of operation of the machine, are then passed outwardly out of coincidence with the set A and from under the sheets respectively supported by them, whereby the same stops again pevent the sheets from participating in the movement. Thus the sheets then drop down to the piatforms of set A that during the preceding movement were held stationary, whereby on thereturn of the platforms of set B into coincidence with those of set A, the former are then free to receive the sheets dropped upon them on the succeeding outward movement of the platforms of the set A. In this way at each recipro- 6G cation of the platforms the sheets all drop downwards from one platform of one set to that of another, and if the reciprocating movements imparted to the two sets of'platiorms synchronize with the delivery of the printed sheets from the press mechanism, the platforms of one set are free and the platforms of the other set support sheets when the sets come into coincidence and all the sheets descend from the platforms of one set to those of the other at each reciprocation. By such means a number of sheets are held separate and suspended in vertical series, whereby they are dried without smearing or off-setting of one sheet by another and arrive at the delivery board substantially dry.

According to the invention where the platforms are'provided of a horizontal series of rods, laths or the like the movement of reciprocation of the platforms is in the direction of the length of the rods, laths or the like.

A construction of sheet delivery mechanism according to the invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

Figure 1 s a side elevation of the mechanism.

Figure 2 is an end elevation showing the driving gear.

Figure 2a is a View showing the construction of the gear wheels of the dr'ving gear.

Figure 3 illustrates in cross-section a modifica tion of construction of the mechanism.

In carrying the invention into effect according to= the construction'illustrated in the drawings, an" open rectangular supporting frame is provided compris'ng vertical standards a and horizontal members a the said standards serving to support on each side of the frame track rails a a for travellers b, 0, each of which supports a horizontal series of rods b 0 respectively. The travel- I lers I) carried by the rails a are connected by a massive transverse member 22 while similarly the travellers c are connected by a member 0 The member 72 serves to support a series of depending vertically disposed supporting bars b upon which the rods 1) are mounted, while similarly the member 0 carries upstanding vertically disposed supporting bars 0 upon which the rods 0 are carried. The'bars b are disposed upon the member b in such positions that they alternate with the bars 0 carried by the member 0 Similarly, the rods b carried by the bars b are disposed in staggered relation with reference to the rods carried by the bars 0 Thus, the platforms respectively formed by the rods b are disposed in positions which are intermediate the positions occupied by the rods 0 It will be understood that the travellers b and c are mounted upon the rails a and a by means of runners or wheels b*, c disposed respectively above and below the rails a a By the construction described it will be observed that each series of platforms formed by the rods b and 0 respectively may be moved in the horizontal direction by a corresponding movement of the travellers supporting them along the rails a a and mechanism is provided by which in this way first one set of platforms is reciprocated from the end position shown in Figure l whereupon the second set of platforms is reciprocated, the respective sets being reciprocated from and to the end position in succession.

It will be understood that any suitable mechanism may be provided operated from the gear of the press or adapted for synchronous operation therewith or in any other suitable manner. In the construction illustrated the gearing comprises a driving shaft 6, a pinion 6 upon which is set to engage a toothed wheel 1 upon a spindle g which. is parallel w'th the spindle e. The spindle g carries a wheel 9 which is toothed for half the circumference and is provided on one side with a control plate 9 in the form of a d'sc which for that part c which is complementary to the series of teeth is of greater radius than the part lying adjacent the series of teeth. The said nterrupted toothed wheel 9 is adapted to rotate toothed Wheels h and i disposed on spindies h i extending transversely across the frame in suitable bearings upon the adjacent standards a .and disposed above and below the spindle g in the vertical plane. Ifhe said wheels h and 2' are of a pitch circumference which is'half the pitch circumference of the wheel 9 Each wheel is also provided with a control plate h i to cooperate with the control plate 9 each control plate 72 i being formed with an arc-like recess W, i adapted to co-operate with the periphery of the portion q of the control plate {1 Each wheel h, i on the opposite to that at which is disposed the control plate "s provided with a dog or tooth h=, i disposed symmetrically with the cut away recess of the control plate Such teeth or dogs of the two wheels h, z are adapted -to co-operate with a similar tooth 9 provided upon the wheel g at a position corresponding'to one end of the portion. 57 of the control plate 9 The spindles h 2' are respectively provided with crank discs W, i which serve through connectev ing rods 7' k to effect oscillation of bell crank levers y, is which through connecting rods j k respectively serve to effect the reciprocation of the travellers b and c.

The sheets received by the mechanism by way of tapes Z which pass around rollers 1 carried upon a spindle extending transversely over the supporting frame and mounted in brackets a carried on the inner sides of the track rails (1 The travellers b further serve to support a series of substantially horizontal forwardly extending fingers b which may be carried from the spindle of the rear upper track wheels or from a trans.

verse member mounted to the rear of the travellers and which extend forwardly so that 'in the end position of the travellers indicated in Figure l the fingers b are disposed immediately above means as a crank arm m provided at each end of the spindle, whichicrank arms are subjected to the action of compression springs m suitably anchored upon the adjacent brackets a in such -manner that the spindle is constrained to maintain one or the other of two limiting positions as determined by stops suitably provided upon thebrackets a The spindle is moved from one position to the other for the purpose of lifting or lowering the fingers m by means of a trip member carried by one or both of the travellers b and suitably provided in the form of a forwardly extending arm n lying adjacent to the fingers b and provided at the outer end with an upstanding portionh and near the position of attachmentto the traveller with'a second upstanding porticn'n so that the said portions M, n lie on opposite sides of a striker element 113 fitted upon the spindle m.

In the operation of the machine the sheets delivered by the tapes Z are received upon the fingers b of the travellers b whichare then in their forward movement to carry the sets of rods b into the end position indicated in Figure 1. During this movement the fingers m occupy the uplifted position'in which they are substantially parallel with the fingers b and permit the sheet to pass from the tapes Z to the said fingers. As the travellers b reach the end position the projection "n throws over the spindle m which is then thrown past its dead-point and held in this position under the'pressure of the spring so that the fingersm? now depend between the fingers b In the return movement of the travellers b the sheet carried by the fingers b is thus intercepted'by the fingers m and caused to pass from the fingers b on to the first set of rods 0 The travellers Z3 now again return to the initial position and in turn the travellers c are caused to reciprocate. As the sets of rods 0 are withdrawn bythe carriersc the sheet supported by It will be understood that the alternate reciprocations of the travellers b and c are secured by the particular construction of gear hereinb fore described. Thus, the driving shaft ebeing rotated and the starting dog g being in engagement with the dog In, upon rotation of the wheel 9 the wheel h is caused to rotate'and thus to effect the movement'of the bell crank lever '7' from the position shown in Figure 1 to the opposite end of its travel as shown in dotted lines.

In the meantime the control plate 2' of the wheel i is locked so that the wheel 2' is retained from rotation by the raised portion 9' of the control plate g When the wheel g has made half a revolution the starting dog 9 now engages the starting dog 2' and thus effects the engagement llil list

of the teeth of the wheel 2 with the teeth of the wheel 9 while at the same time the extremity of the portion 5 of the control plate 5.7 releases the co: trol plate i Rotation of the wheel i then effects the reciprocation of the travellers c from the bell crank levers it will be understood, however, that any suitable gear may be provided by which the respective sets of rods or platforms may be alternately reciprocated from and to their coincident positions and the sheets successively deposited upon the delivery board having been held separate and suspended in the manner hereinbefore described.

Any convenient number of platforms or sets of may be provided to enable any desired number of sheets to be held separate and suspended before arrival on the delivery board, thereby providing sufficient time for drying before the sheets are brought into contact with each other upon the delivery board.

Sheet stops in the form of vertical stationary rods 0 may be provided to serve as stops for all the sheets at the end opposite to that occupied by the bars b 0 For this purpose six or more or less of such vertical stops may be provided disposed equidistant apart. Means may further be provided by which hot air for facilitating the drying of the sheets may be supplied.

It will also be understood that the invention not limited to the details of construction hereinbefcre described. Thus, the free ends of the rods b 0 may also be connected together by horizontal connecting bars advantageously positioned below the rods to which they are fixed, and such bars may, if desired, be guided in horizontally disposed guideways suitably carried upon the sides of the main frame. The supporting bars 12 0 may be recessed to receive the horizontal connecting bars of the alternate series of rods when the latter reach the end of their outer travel, so that the supporting bars may serve as stops for the sheets. Again, as illustrated in Figure 3, instead of providing the series of vertical supporting bars I) and 0 the rods b 0 may be connected at each end by horizontally arranged bars 0 positioned advantageously below them and which are received into slideways p as before described, and the sets of rods may be provided with depending stops 0 carried by the inner horizontally arranged bars 0. The sets of rods may respectively be connected and operated by connecting members to which the respective series of rods b 0 and their horizontal bars are secured.

1. Sb" delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a series of superposed and spaced platforms or rigid supporting surfaces the alternate members of which form distinct sets,

for supporting the platforms or rigid supporting surfaces of each set for reciprocating movemen their own planes, and driving means embodying sets of devices successively and alternately acting to effect the reciprocating move- .nent of the supporting surfaces of each set alternately so that while the supporting surfaces of one set are being reciprocated the supporting surfaces of another set are maintained in a state of est and vice versa.

2. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a series of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces arranged in sets disposed in vertical series, corresponding sets of driving devices acting alternately on the respective sets to cause the reciprocating movement of one set while another set is inactive for the transmission of sheets received on the uppermost platform throughout the series of platforms to the lowermost platform, and stops to impose on the respective sheets a substantially vertical path of movement to the position of delivery.

3. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a series of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces arranged in sets disposed in vertical series, operating mechanism for successively and alternately reciprocating said sets so as to effect reciprocation of one set while another set is in a state of rest, and vice versa, and means comprising stops secured on the said platforms or rigid supporting surfaces to prevent lateral movement of the sheets supported on the platforms of the respective sets so that they follow a substantially vertical path to the position of delivery.

4. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a frame, tracks provided on said frame, travellers mounted to reciprocate on said tracks, a series of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces arranged in sets disposed in Ver tical series, the alternate members of which form distinct sets supported by the corresponding travellers, sets of operating devices for reciprocating said travellers and sets of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces, and means for independently and successively and alternately operating said sets of operating devices.

5. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a series of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces arranged in sets disposed. in vertical series, tracks disposed in upper and lower positions on the frame of the mechanism, travellers mounted to reciprocate on said tracks, supporting means for the platforms or rigid supporting surfaces comprising vertically disposed bars in two sets secured to said travellers, one set to depend downwardly from the travellers reciprocating on the upper track and one set to extend upwardly from the travellers reciprocating on the lower track in alternate positions, said platforms or rigid supporting surfaces carrying rods secured to said bars extending horizontally, the rods on one set of bars being in staggered relation with reference to the rods on the other set of bars.

6. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses according to claim 5, in the sup porting means also act as stops to impose on the sheets on the respective sets of platforms or rigid supporting surfaces a substantially vertical path of movement to the position of delivery.

7. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a vertical series of superposed and spaced platforms or rigid supporting surfaces the alternate members of which form distinct sets, means for reciprocating horizontally the sets of platforms alternately, and means com- A rising an oscillatable spindle carrying detaining elements for retaining a sheet delivered to the uppermost platform of the series of platforms when said platform is in the initial end position on the delivery or backward stroke of the reciprocation of said platform and preventing movement of said sheet with said platform.

8. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a vertical series of superposed and spaced pla forms or rigid supporting surfaces the alternate members of which form distinct sets, means for reciprocating horizontally the sets of platforms alternately, and means comprising an oscillatable spindle carrying detaining elements for retaining a sheet delivered to the up- Hill permost platform of the series of platforms when the said platform is in initial end position on the delivery or backward stroke of the reciprocation of said platform and preventing movement of said sheet with said platform, the detaining elements carried by the oscillatable spindle being movable between two limiting positions in which they are respectively operative to extend transversely to the plane of the sheet or inoperative.

9. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a vertical series of superposed and spaced platforms or rigid supporting surfaces the alternate members of which form distinct sets, means for reciprocating horizontally the sets of platforms alternately, an oscillatable spindle carrin detaining elements and a striker member operating in synchronisin with the upperrnost platform of the series to throw the oscillatable spindle into one or other of two positions in which the detaining elements carried thereby are respectively operative or inoperative on the backward forward strokes of said platform on each of its reciprocations.

10. Sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, comprising a vertical series of superposed and spaced platforms or rigid supporting surfaces the alternate members of which form distinct sets, and driving means for reciprocating horizontally said sets of platforms alternately, coma mutilated driving toothed driven gears successively and alternately engaged and rotated by the mutilated driving gear and operatively connected to the respective sets of platforms, and control elements secured on said wheels for determining the alternate rotation of the toothed driven gears.

11. In a sheet deliver mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a pair of reciprocatory delivery devices, each comprising a plurality of vertically spaced rigid horizontal platforms, the platforms of the respective devices being disposed at di ferent elevations and those of one device alternating in arrangement with those of the other device when in vertical coincidence, means acting the reciprocation of said devices for transferring a sheet successively and alternately from platform of one device to the underlying platform of the other device to effect a downward travel of the sheet from platform to platform of said devices, an operating element, and sets of operating devices alternately and successively thrown. into and out of action by said operating element to reciprocate one of the delivery devices while the other remains inactive and to then reverse this order of operation.

12. In a sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a pair of reciprocatory delivery devices, each comprising a plurality of vertically spaced rigid horizontal platforms, the platforms of the respective devices being disposed at different elevations and those of one device alternating in arrangement with those of the other device when in vertical coincidence, means on rating in reciprocation of the platforms for transferring a sheet for downward travel successively and alternately from a platform of one device to a platform of the other device throughout the series of platforms of said devices, a rotary shaft, and sets of operating devices suc cessively and alternately driven by the shaft for converting the rotary motion of the shaft into reciprocatory motion and independently reciprocating the delivery devices therefrom.

13. In a sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a pair of reciprocatory delivery devices, each comprising a plurality of vertically spaced rigid horizontal platforms, the platforms of the respective devices being disposed at different elevations and those of one device alternating in arrangement with those of the other device when in vertical coincidence, means operating in the reciprocation of the platforms for transferring a sheet for downward travel successively and alternately from a platform of one device to a platform of the other device throughout the series of platforms of said devices, a rotary shaft, a mutilated drive gear on said shaft, gears alternately and successively driven by said drive gear, and sets of crank and link connections between the respective driven gears and the respective delivery devices for alternately and successively reciprocating the latter.

14. In a sheet delivery mechanism for printing presses, the combination of a frame, upper and lower carriages mounted one above the other on 1% the frame, each carriage including a horizontal transverse bar, transverse rows of uprights respectively projecting downwardly from the bar of the upper carriage and upwardly from the bar of the lower carriage, the uprights carried by the respective bars alternating in arrangement with each other, horizontal rods carried by the rows of uprights so as to form a set of horizontal platforms carried by each row of uprights and to dispose the platforms of the respective rows of uprights in superimposed relation and alternating in arrangement with the platform of the second row of uprights, and means for successively and alternately reciprocating the carriages.

15. In a sheet delivery mechanism for printing 1 0 presses, the combination of a frame, upper and lower reciprocatory carriages mounted one above the other on the frame, each carriage including a horizontal transverse bar, transverse rows of uprights respectively projecting downwardly from the upper bar and upwardly from the lower bar, the uprights carried by the respective bars alternating in arrangement with each other, horizontal rods carried by the rows of uprights so as to form a set of horizontal platforms carried by each row of uprights and to dispose the platforms of said rows of uprights in superimposed relation and alternating in arrangement with each other, a ro- ALBERT HEWITT. 

